Emma was happy.

Everyone was happy.

The Black Fairy was finally defeated, and they could finally relax. They haven't fought a villain in years. It felt weird, sure, but Storybrooke was quiet. Without conflict. No snow queens, wicked witches or evil queens. Just a nice settled down town.

But that stopped one day at Granny's.

"Hey, Granny," said Emma. "One hot cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon, please."

"OK then," said Granny. "I know what you like. Boy, this job is getting boring. If Ruby was still here, I could just hold up and retire!"

Emma laughed. "It's okay, Granny. Didn't Ruby say she was coming to visit soon? I mean, we have got a lot of magic beans now, it's certainly possible."

"Yeah, as if that'll ever happen," moaned Granny.

Suddenly, Leroy walked in.

"You guys!" he shouted. "Something happened."

"What a surprise!" shouted Regina from another table. "What is it? Did you find another diamond? Ugh! Can't we have some real news here?"

"No, sister!" answered Leroy. "A letter dropped out of the well. I think it's from home."

Emma saw the letter. It was definitley from the Enchanted Forest.

"Yup," said Regina. "That's home, all right."

Emma then held a meeting at her house. It was attended by her, her parents, Regina, Hook and Henry. She thought. Was something actually happening? Well, at least she had a few months to relax. Regina read out the letter:

Dear Storybrooke,

I am writing to you what would likely be seconds before our death. The Enchanted Forest has been destroyed. Destroyed by an evil god whose powers are probably beyond even your comprehension. Even The Dark One's comprohension. Please, find a way to defeat it fast. It's too late to save us. But please save yourselves at least. Find out who did this and how to stop them. The only thing we know is her name is Darquesse.

From

your friends in the Enchanted Forest.

"Maybe it's a trick," said Snow, trying to remain optimistic. "Or it's just exaggerated."

"Snow, this letter seems very serious," said Regina. "It looks like, yes, the Enchanted Forest was destroyed."

"But it can't be!" said Henry. "Not even The Dark Curse could've destroyed the Enchanted Forest!"

"Sorry, kid," said Emma. "But the only way to find out what happened is to actually find who did this."

"Ya, who is this Darquesse gal?" asked Hook. "Because I would honestly like to stab her with this!" He held up his hook.

"Calm down," said Emma. "We need to get to the bottom of this."

"But how?" asked Snow. "We don't even have a clue to who did this."

Regina looked at the letter and saw a photo. A photo of this 'Darquesse' girl.

"This," said Regina, holding up the photo. "Is Darquesse. One of the villagers there must've brought a camera when they left Storybrooke for some reason. But thank goodness they did, because now we have a clue."

"That's Darquesse?" said Hook. "She looks like just a girl. About 18."

"I don't think you're one to say that," said Regina. "Hook, you're like 350 or something yet you look 35!"

"Point taken," said Hook. "But how do we find out who did this?"

"This magic," said Regina. "It looks different."

"We need to see Gold," said David. "Maybe he can help us."

"The crocodile," said Hook. "Do you think he would know magic like this?"

"As much as I hate to admit it," said Regina. "He knows a lot about magic a lot more than any of us."

"Then let's go and see him," said Emma. "He must know something."

5 Years before The Dark Curse

Rumpelstiltskin was in the Dark Castle. He had just found out about Belle's death. It was his fault. He shouldn't have let her go. He shouldn't have yelled out at him for helping her. It was all his fault.

And then there was a knock on the door.

"Hello Rumpelstiltskin," said the weird-looking man. "I'm Horace Wereson. You're The Dark One. I'm here for a deal."

"A deal," said Rumpel, "What do you want?"

People came to Rumpel asking for deals all the time, so he wasn't surprised by this. The thing is he just found out about Belle's death. But he had to act normal. No one could know he fell in love. No one. No one could know that The Dark One was actually feeling sad. He had to pretend to be his normal trickery self.

"I want you, a powerful sorcerer," said Horace. "To take away my, a not-so powerful sorcerer's magic."

Rumpel laughed. Why would anyone want to get rid of their magic? If he had magic, why would he want to get rid of it? No, this has got to be a trick.

"Heeheehee!" laughed Rumpel. "Why would anyone want to get rid of their magic?"

"Because I only have one abillity," said Horace. "I'm a... Realmial Shunter. I can travel the realms at will, but I can only do it for a certain period of time. I can shunt back to my home realm any minute. And I can't do that. I'll be arrested straight away."

Rumpel thought for a second. He can travel the realms at will? That is a power that Rumpel would love to have. He needed that power. If he had that power, he can just go and get Bae himself, without even needing The Dark Curse. Of course, the effects would only be tempory, but it seems like if he shunts enough times, he could just bring Bae back here quickly! This was a deal he couldn't pass.

"So, you up for it?" asked Horace. "Name your price."

"I want one thing, dearie," said a suddenly happy Rumpel. His sadness about Belle had left. "I don't just take away your magic, I transfer it into me."

"Okay then," said Horace. "It's a deal. Anything to stop here."

"That's it?" Rumpel questioned. "Do you really want to give your magic to me? I'm The Dark One."

"And I'm an escaped prisoner from another realm," said this Horace guy. "Now, do you want my magic or not."

"Yes, yes!" Rumpel said, incredibly happily.

"Then get started," said Horace.

Present Day

Gold didn't think that Regina and the others (especially Hook) believed he had changed. He had little interaction with them since The Black Fairy was killed. By him. That was the problem. The Dark Curse was broken because the participant who cast it was killed. That had never happened before. The other three were all broken out of love. Love between mother and son mostly.

Belle forgave that.

He didn't know why she was still with him. He didn't deserve her. She deserved better. So much better. But he couldn't leave her. Gideon was three years old now (sort of), and Gold has tried to do so much to raise him.

But he still didn't feel like he was doing enough.

Was he changing? Was this his chance? He thought. No, The Dark One couldn't change. That's why it's called 'The Dark One'. Because they're dark. But he can try. It'll never work, but he can try.

Suddenly, the door of the shop opened, and in it entered Emma Swan, Regina Mills, Snow White, David Nolan, Henry Mills, and Rumple's nemesis, Killian Jones.

What were they doing here?

"Ah," Gold said. "I see the whole gang's here, what brings you all to my humble shop?"

"We need your help," said Emma.

"Wow," said Rumple. "Never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth again, Miss Swan."

"Oh, trust me," Emma said. "You won't be hearing them again."

"What do you want my help with?" Gold asked.

"Read this," Regina said.

Regina gave Gold a letter. What the letter was basically saying was simple. The enchanted forest was destroyed by an evil god. Did he care? He wasn't sure. All that land, what was once his home for centuries, was now gone. Or wrecked. Either way, it was horrible. He wasn't sure what to think.

"Why would I know anything about this?" asked Rumpelstiltskin. "I don't know everything, dearie."

"This photo came with it," said Regina.

"Do you know anything about this?" David said.

Rumpel stared. The magic was... familiar. Darquesse's magic was different. But, different in a way he's seen before. She looked like she was manipulating the four elements. But not just that, she was throwing energy, a different kind which he had definitley seen before.

He remembers. No. It can't be. That was all a dream, was it? They couldn't possibly be talking skeletons living in this world, can they?

5 years before The Dark Curse

Skulduggery Pleasant held onto the leg of wanted crimal dimensional shunter, Horace Wereson, and ended up in a weird place, a forest, it looked like a fairytale. Well, he thought. Other dimensions are weird. He had obviously let go, but now he had lost him. He started looking.

He saw a nearby village full of what looked like, mortal peasants from the seventeenth century or something. Back when Skulduggery was only 103.

Oh, how he mist those days.

He had to do his job as a sanctuary detective and get this criminal back to Grand Mage Eachan Meritorious. He still can't believe they trust Serpine, but that didn't matter right now.

Horace Wereson was a horrible killer and he had to go. Suddenly, the village was approached by an angry woman with long black hair and a black dress leaving her carriage.

Boy, this dimension was so old-fashioned.

"You people!" she shouted. "Still none of you have found me the heart of Snow White! Well, maybe if I can make you an offer, you will. Give me the heart of Snow White and you will have all the riches I have! I will even give my palace to you! You will be king or queen?"

Literally nobody stood in.

Snow White? Giving hearts? A supposedly evil queen?

Was he watching a play in a weird location?

No, it can't be. How is this even possible? Evil Queen's don't exist. Snow White doesn't exist. The walking talking skeleton knew that was silly.

"We will never do anything you say!" shouted one peasant, looking brave.

"I admire your bravery," said the Queen, "But that doesn't mean I will let you live?"

The Evil Queen (he thinks so) reached into the brave peasant's chest and pulled out his heart which was now lighting up, looking enchanted. She squeezed it and crushed it into sand.

What?

"Who's next?" shouted the Queen. "If none of you bring me Snow White's heart before the end of the day, this is what will happen to you. All of you."

The Evil Queen looked around and walked up to Skulduggery. She had noticed him. He didn't really fit in with the crowd, did he?

"You look like a nobleman," she said to Skulduggery. "Why are you here and why are you hiding your face?"

"Just... collecting taxes, your majesty," Skulduggery said. "These people haven't got much but at least it's something."

"Well, carry on then," said the Evil Queen. "People like you and me Snow White doesn't care about."

As she left, Skulduggery wondered about what he just experienced. An evil queen looking for the heart of Snow White, killing someone by ripping their heart out straight out of their chest. What was this place? Did he just jump inside a weird version of Snow White? Or do fairytales actually exist?

No, he shrugged that thought off. It didn't make any sense, did it?